Summer Blogcation

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Image by Storm Crypt on Flickr

I've decided to take a break from blogging this summer - let's call it a summer blogcation. My therapist told me to take a break long ago, but I didn't feel the need to. However, the other day my husband asked me to; not in a mean, demanding way, but in a "I care about you and think you should give yourself a break" kind of way. I finally caved and agreed. Here are my reasons:

• I need to reduce stress. Not that blogging is stressful - it's not; but it's one more thing I "have" to do. Plus my day job is more than 50% writing and I get tired of it.
• Headaches are ruling my life. I had two days in a row of no head pain last week, and it's the first time that's happened in months. All I think about is the pain, and I'm constantly trying to find ways to stop the pain. I spend a few hours a week doing research, reading other headache/migraine bloggers' posts and writing my own, and while it's not that much time, it is time I'm thinking about headaches and migraines. I need to take a break and focus on anything but that. Which brings me to my next reason...
• I'm going to replace the time I spend blogging and reading blogs with something stress-free and non-head-related. This could be painting, biking, cooking new recipes, shopping with friends, and spending more time with my husband. The options are endless!

Please know that I WILL be back, probably in August unless something drastic happens that I can't wait to blog about. I'll try to respond to comments to my blog, but I'm not anticipating many. Thank you for not only being a reader of my blog but for being a FRIEND. I hope you all have an amazing summer and improved health!

P.S. I hate to make this a long post, but I want to close some loops before I take my blogcation.

• Elimination Diet: It wasn't too helpful for me, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't help others; in fact, I know it's helped others. I have a few questionable foods that I'm going to test again later, but in general I've added back most foods and am no longer restricting my diet, at least not as it relates to migraine triggers. I just finished "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver and it has inspired me even more to stick to organic foods (as much as possible) and maybe even grow my own someday when I get out of this condo. I cannot recommend this book enough!!
• Occipital Nerve Block: Didn't work. At all. AND, apparently 5% of women have spotting and cramping from the steroids for about a month. Yes, I would fall into that category. I didn't see anything online about it and was getting concerned, but the doc filled me in during the follow up. So now it's online. Be warned.
• Drugs. I stopped the Zonisamide because of the daily stomach issues, and I decided to give up on preventatives (I've tried almost all of them, seriously). But my doc recommended Gabapentin (Neurontin) so I figured I'd try ONE more. So far the dizziness and drowsiness are killing me but I'm trying to stick with it. My stupid insurance denied coverage of Treximet so my doc said I could try Imitrex (generic; apparently my insurance doesn't even cover Imitrex; and it only covers four generic pills a month - jerks) along with 500 mg Naproxen. I just tried it today and it was so not the same. I still have Aleve, Butalbital and Toradol if I have migraines, but they're hit or miss. Other than that, I'm free of meds except for topical acne medicine.
• TMJ mouth guard: no luck for headaches yet although my jaw pain, which I only get when I grind my teeth at night, is better. I'm still wearing it 24/7 except for eating.

And no, I will not be on the sailboat in the picture during my time off from blogging. Sadness!

Book Review - Natural Cures for Headaches

I finally finished reading Natural Cures for Headaches by Dr. Cass Ingram. I loved that it focused on the CAUSE of headaches - a few examples are food allergies/intolerances, infections, hormonal disturbances, chemical sensitivity, muscle tension, high blood pressure, hypohyroidism, adrenal gland disorders, abscesses and brain tumors. The book even has questionnaires for some of these conditions to see if you might have them.

Here are my personal takeaways from the book, which of course I'm going to talk to my neurologist about before taking any action:

- Food Inolerance Test. The UNC neurologist still hasn't called me back, but I'm hoping to keep calling nutritionists to see if anyone has heard of it. Not now though, because my insurance would no cover this test or nutritionist visits.

- Migraten. I did a google search, and apparently there's also something out there called MigraTen, but this is a drug concoction and is different from Migraten. Migraten is made from natural spices and the way Dr. Ingram describes it, it's pretty much a miracle drug for headaches and migraines.

- Diet. The book says to try cutting carbs, refined sugars, white sugar and white flour. I realize that this is virtually impossible, but others have tried this and are alive to tell about it (if you have, please tell me how you did it!). I probably won't be able to cut everything, but I am going to try to cut down on sugar and eat only whole wheat pastas/breads, brown rice, etc. Note that wheat is a common allergy/headache trigger, so be careful if you do try this. Also, I plan on buying more organic foods like milk. The book says to cut processed foods and those with MSG - I avoid MSG since it makes me sick, and although I try not to eat processed foods, I'm not 100% there yet, so I'm going to work on that as well.

Other updates: I've decided to stick with my neurologist (more about that in a future post). The Naproxen was giving me rebound headaches so I called the neuro and he said I could go off it. I did it somewhat gradually and decided that the last one I'd take was yesterday morning. I thought the withdrawal headaches would be a nightmare, but they actually weren't any worse than the rebound headaches I was having. Now I'm just about headache-free! The only drug I'm on now is Bystolic (and my Mirena IUD, and a women's daily multivitamin).

Is Bystolic helping my migraines?

Someone commented the other day on an old post I made when I first started taking Bystolic, asking if it is making a difference in my migraines. I decided to include my answer in this post so it has more visibility.

Short answer: it's complicated.

My neurologist is convinced that the Bystolic is preventing migraines. While I haven't had full-blown migraine in a while, I still have nausea and light sensitivity with some headaches. And of course, I get about 15 headaches a month, so those could be considered mini-migraines.

Other factors could tie in - I had migraines when I was on birth control pills, now I have an IUD (Mirena). I haven't been spotting as bad from it (I've had it about 2 years and had bad spotting the first year and a half). When I was on the pill though, I was in college and had an awful sleep schedule, so that could have caused my migraines - or maybe it was a combination of that and The Pill.

I just looked at my headache calendar and my last migraine was in July; before that, March, when I started the Bystolic. And before that, I had them about once or twice a month.

So maybe Bystolic is helping. I haven't had any noticeable side effects, so I don't mind taking it just to be safe!
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Quick update on the Naproxen - it's starting to upset my stomach, but I was able to get some Nexium samples, which I take once a day. I still have an upset stomach but it's not too bad.

Also, my final physical therapy appointment was last week. The therapist suggested that I take a heating pad to work for my neck/shoulders, so I did that during the week and it seemed to help. The headaches that I've had last week would come and go and never really stuck, which is awesome. She also said to do yoga. I have a yoga video, but I haven't done it recently; I did work out on the treadmill last week but that's about it. I need to make time for workouts, because exercise seems to improve my mood in additon to helping the headaches.

Naproxen - my new weapon?

In my war with headaches, I have yet another plan. Physical therapy didn't work, so I'm stopping that. I'm still on Bystolic to prevent migraines (I wish it would prevent headaches too, but I still get about 15 headaches per month). When I visited my neurologist last week, I mentioned that I take Aleve when I get headaches and that it generally works. My neurologist wrote me a prescription for Naproxen (which is also Aleve) - 250 mg twice a day for a month and a half, until I see him next.

I expressed my concern for rebound headaches and also mentioned that sometimes when I take Aleve a lot, my body seems to get used to it and it doesn't help as much. He said that he didn't think I'd have a problem and said to just try it. He did say that it could upset my stomach so he told me to take an antacid tablet with it at night (he prescribed Nexium, but my stupid insurance didn't cover it, so it would've been like 150 bucks).

The plan is to knock out my headache cycle, because right now my body is accustomed to having frequent headaches. So Naproxen, please please please win the war for me!


Naproxen Info